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FTC Files Suit Against Company For Adding Charges To Your Phone Bill

You might want to check your mobile phone bill to see if you've had any weird charges added to it. If so, you could be getting that money back.

The Federal Trade Commission just filed its first lawsuit against a company accused of "mobile cramming," reports the Legal Times blog.

In a suit filed April 16, the FTC charged Wise Media, LLC, its CEO and co-owner Brian Buckley and another co-owner, Winston Deloney alleging this scam.

Cramming is when unauthorized charges are added to your telephone bill. The FTC has battled this on regular phone bills for years, but this is the first case of "mobile cramming," meaning charges added to a mobile phone bill.

Wise Media is accused of sending fraudulent premium texts. That's the billing system used for things like making a donation to a charity. In this case, the FTC alleges that the company earned hundreds of thousands of dollars for services like "HoroscopeGenie" that texts three horoscopes a week, or one called LongLife Love Tips, which sent flirting advice, and charging unwitting consumers $9.99/month.

The FTC wants to freeze company assets and make them pay back consumers in full.

So check your bill for cryptic monthly charges like "27140 HoroGenie Alert." If you find them, hang on to your bill and consider filing a complaint with the FTC. If it wins the case, you could get your money back.